Armor & Mobility

May/ June 2017

Military magazines in the United States and Canada, covering Armor and Mobility, focuses on tactical vehicles, C4ISR, Special Operations Forces, latest soldier equipment, shelters, and key DoD programs

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SOCOM INFO OPS SUPPORT
The United States Special Operations Command
(USSOCOM) under the SOCOM Wide Mission Support-A
(SWMS-A) Contract has awarded Fulcrum a three-year,
$850,000 task order in support of the J39-Military Information
Support Operations (MISO) Branch at USSOCOM headquarters.
Fulcrum subject matter experts (SMEs) will provide critical
manpower augmentation to the J39-Military Information
Support Operations (MISO) Branch across all organizational
functions. Fulcrum SMEs will support the client in all aspects
of the Senior Military Engagement Program, producing
complex analysis and providing overarching global MISO plan
and policy support as necessary. Fulcrum experts also create
actionable geospatial and statistical analysis in support of
MISO programs and objectives.
"We are proud to have Fulcrum subject matter experts
supporting the J39-MISO branch, and we continue to be
excited in growing our technical staff supporting SOCOM," said
Fulcrum's CEO, Jeff Handy. "We are excited with our successes
under SWMS-A, and are positioned to continue to grow this
important IDIQ in partnership with USSOCOM."
More info: fulcrumapp.com
UNMANNED AIR OPS CENTER
Leidos, a global science and technology provider, has
announced its Remotely-Piloted Aircraft (RPA) Operations Center
(ROC) was recognized by the Martin H. Harris Chapter of the Air
Force Association (AFA) for outstanding current/future armed
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology at a recent U.S. Air
Force (USAF) meeting in Orlando, FL.
The operations center was designated as a Jimmy Doolittle
Educational Fellow by the AFA. The Leidos ROC team completed
installation and achieved the first three-year full operational
capability for Air Force Special Operations Command's Next
Generation RPA Operations Center at Cannon Air Force Base
using the National Institute of Standards and Technology Risk
Management Framework. This ROC design is the first RPA operation
center that validates USAF RPA requirements using industry
standard tools, USAF RPA command and control standards, and
commercial off-the-shelf/Government off-the-shelf equipment.
The ROC is the most advanced RPA operations center in the USAF,
and is the first fully virtualized ROC incorporating open standards
that allows for future growth with multi-level security and cross
domain capabilities.
More info: Leidos.com
SOF AIR RF
COUNTERMEASURES SUPPORT
The U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center,
Robins Air Force Base, GA, recently announced a $67.7
million order to the BAE Systems Electronic Systems
segment in Nashua, NH, to provide radio frequency
(RF) countermeasures systems for special operations
C-130J four-engine turboprop aircraft. Electronic
warfare (EW) experts at BAE Systems will provide
RF countermeasures systems to help U.S. special-
operations C-130J turboprop aircraft evade and jam
enemy radar systems.
The aircraft involved are the AC-130J Ghostrider
close-air-support plane and the MC-130J Commando
II, which is designed to fly covertly at night for special
forces refueling, infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply.
This order calls for BAE Systems to design, build,
and test airborne EW systems to enable special-
operations C-130J aircraft to detect, identify, locate,
deny, degrade, disrupt, and defeat enemy radar systems
during special-operations missions.
More info: baesystems.com
AIR-RECOVERABLE UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS
DARPA recently completed Phase 1 of its Gremlins program, which
envisions volleys of low-cost, reusable unmanned aerial systems
(UASs)—or "gremlins"—that could be launched and later retrieved in mid-
air. Taking the program to its next stage, the Agency has now awarded
Phase 2 contracts to two teams, one led by Dynetics, Inc., Huntsville,
AL, and the other by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., San
Diego, CA.
The Phase 1 program showed the feasibility of airborne UAS launch
and recovery systems that would require minimal modification to the
host aircraft. Gremlins Phase 2 research seeks to mature two system
concepts to enable 'aircraft carriers in the sky' using air-recoverable
UASs that could carry various payloads—advances that would greatly
extend the range, flexibility, and affordability of UAS operations for the
U.S. military. Phase 3 goals include developing one full-scale technology
demonstration system and conducting flight demonstrations involving
airborne launch and recovery of multiple gremlins.
The gremlins' expected lifetime of about 20 uses could provide
significant cost advantages over expendable unmanned systems by
reducing payload and airframe costs and by having lower mission and
maintenance costs than conventional manned platforms. Flight tests
are currently scheduled for the 2019 timeframe.
More info: darpa.mil
FutureTech
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